


Insomnia

by Leni



Series: Rumbelle Meme - Fluffy Fluff McFluff [16]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-28
Updated: 2016-11-28
Packaged: 2018-09-02 20:34:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8682469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leni/pseuds/Leni
Summary: It was the lack of cold feet at his shins that woke him up.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [stillsearching47](https://archiveofourown.org/users/stillsearching47/gifts).



> Prompt: insomnia

It was the lack of cold feet at his shins that woke him up.

Rumpelstiltskin blinked in the darkness of the master bedroom, muzzy with remnants of a hazy dream of nurseries and unfinished cradles. It was a silly anxiety, of course. A snap of his fingers could furnish the room across from theirs in a second, but his subconscious didn't seem to be as reasonable.

It seemed he wasn't the only one who wasn't resting well these last weeks.

With a sigh, his hand moved to palm the space at his left even before he rolled to his side to check that he was alone in the bed. He closed his eyes, exhaled, and waved his hand to magic himself to the study downstairs.

"Belle," he called softly, already turning to her desk.

There she was, wrapped in a blanket, a book on her lap under the lamp light. What To Expect When You're Expecting, of course. It had become her favorite since they'd found about her pregnancy, and in the months since Rumpelstiltskin had been tempted to toss it into the fire more than once. For every piece of advice Belle read, she came out with three new worries.

He would never deny her the right to keep herself informed, but it drove him crazy when she built up all those worst-case scenarios and it took him days to dispel her fears.

No, she wouldn't slip down the stairs. But yes, he'd install a rail on the wall just in case.

No, her diet was adequate for an expectant mother. Her doctor had checked it, and reassured that their baby wasn't missing any nutrients.

No, the baby was developing normally. Every sonogram she'd taken proved that.

No, Rumpelstiltskin wouldn't let anyone harm their baby. 

The latter was not a fear easily calmed, as Rumpelstiltskin himself could list at least half a dozen people who would be happy to target the Dark One's wife while she was expecting and therefore considered helpless and easily manipulated with any threat to her child. 

But he had already taken care to make it known that any attempt to hurt his wife would be met with severe punishment.

They might hate him, but none of his enemies were foolish enough to risk his ire.

(Not after what he'd done to that first idiot, anyway.)

"Belle," he repeated, a little more loudly as he reached for her shoulder and gave it a little shake.

This time she jerked awake. "Rumple." Her brow knitted as her thoughts gathered. "I couldn't sleep, so I came here and-" She looked down at her book, then shook her head at herself as she placed it back on the tall pile that stood on the desk. "-and fell asleep, I guess."

Rumpelstiltskin gave a soft chuckle. "I noticed, dearest." He rubbed her shoulder through the blanket, smiling when she leaned in so her head rested against his arm. "But wouldn't you be more comfortable in a bed?"

She nodded, turning slightly so she could grab onto his pajama shirt and tugging a little until he was close enough that she could bury her nose into his hip. "I'm tired, Rumple. I just want to have this baby so I can stop worrying about it."

He didn't have the heart to tell her that the worry never ended. Not unless you buried your child, and that was the worst feeling in the world. "Shhh, darling. Just a few weeks more. It will all come in time."

"I just wish it'd be sooner," she whispered.

"That's the insomnia talking," he told her, petting her hair soothingly. "We will meet our son when he decides to come, and not a minute earlier. But for now, off to bed with you, my dear."

He took her nod as permission, and enveloped the two of them in a cloud of magic that took them to their bedroom.

"Try to sleep, okay?"

"I'll try," she told him, shifting for a comfortable position. That alone would take her a few minutes before she settled, Rumpelstiltskin had learned. "But if I wander off again..."

"I'll find you and bring you back," he promised, settling in his side of the bed, close to the border so as to give her as much space as humanly possible. But he did reach across to caress her cheek, giving her a comforting smile even though she wouldn't see it in the darkness. "I'll always be there, Belle."

Belle smiled back, kissing his fingers. "I know. I love you, Rumple."

"Love you too."

 

The End  
28/11/16


End file.
